Preliminary Results: Casey Wins Dist. 50 Race Against Jon Brien

Eighteen minutes after polls closed, cheers began among Casey supporters at Ciro's Tavern as results came in from Station 1, Bernon Heights, Crepeau Court and Our Lady Queen of Martyrs. 

Preliminary results gave Casey 718 votes at Bernon Heights, 591 at Crepeau Court, and 740 at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs. Write-in votes (not all of which are necessarily for incumbent Rep. Jon Brien) came in at 363 at Bernon Heights, 225 at Crepeau Court, 336 at OLQM and 279 at Station 1.

"He's been destroyed," Casey's Campaign Manager Jeffrey Burlingame said of Brien. Even absentee ballots couldn't make up the difference for Brien in the race, Burlingame said.

"I can't thank you guys enough," said Casey, arriving after polls closed. "I'm going to give every one of you a hug."

At the Broaster House, Brien conceded the race. "I want to say congratulations to Steve Casey. He's the new rep for Dist. 50," Brien said, "As a citizen and a taxpayer I will continue to keep an eye on my representatives."  

“We worked just as hard, if not harder as in the primary election,” said Democratic Dist. 50 challenger Stephen Casey.  He said after the primary, he continued to meet as many people as he could to show them he was not the person his opponent Rep. Jon Brien D-Dis. 50 has portrayed him as.

To the people who voted for him, Casey said,  “They didn’t let me down, and I’m not going to let them down.”

Brien also lauded his supporters. "The people who were behind me are some of the best people this community has to offer. I owe a debt of gratitude to them," he said.

In other election news,

• Dist. 51 Rep. Bob Phillips won re-election with 2,521 total votes to Republican challenger Chris Roberts' 1,352.

• Dist. 49 Rep. Lisa Baldelli-Hunt won her re-election bid with 2,473 to Independent challenger Michael Moniz's 497.

• Woonsocket voters have approved both city ballot questions:

Question 8 — Ammendments to the Woonsocket Home Rule Charter.

Question 9 — Recall provision

Check our chart below for the total votes on the ballot questions

Update: 7:35 p.m. At 7:29 p.m., Heri Cyr at the Board of Canvassers reported a full house in line to vote before polls close in 30 minutes. The office is signing up unregistered voters to cast ballots for the presidential races only. "I'm very, very busy," Cyr said.

Update: 3:24 p.m. At Bernon Heights School, where Moderator Hang Chuk said about 640 voters had turned out, Democratic Dist. 50 Candidate Stephen Casey greeted voters outside the building next to Jon Brien supporters, also Democrats.

"It's been busy," Casey said, probably because of the presidential election. Casey noted his race against write-in candidate incumbent Rep. Jon Brien, including Brien signs on billboard trailers across Woonsocket, was unusual in the city.

Nearby, holding a sign for Jon Brien , Tom Brien (no relation) said his candidate and Rep. Bob Phillips (D-Dist. 51) were a choice for experience in the General Assembly. "We can't afford for two rookies to be going to the State House," he said.

Update: 2:20 p.m. At City Hall in Harris Hall, where unregistered voters have the chance to cast their votes for president and vice president only, the voter count was at 90 at 1 p.m., according to moderator Shirley Corriveault. 

Across the hall at the Board of Canvassers office, Manager Estelle Corriveau said there's been a big turnout of voters across all the polling places. Leo Savoie School in particular, she said, has the biggests turnout - 386 as of 10 a.m.

At Leo Savoie, Where Republican Dist. 51 candidate Chris Roberts was greeting voters with Rep. Bob Phillips volunteer Phillip LaBrecque, the count was 798 by 1:30 p.m.

"It matters," Labrecque assured voters who had just cast their ballots.

Update: 10:30 a.m. "We're doing very good today," said Lorraine Lanctot, Moderator at Crepeau Court. Lanctot said there were 243 voters as of 10:30 a.m. The voters were coming in waves this morning, she said.

At 7 a.m., Lanctot said, the place was "jammed". "I've never seen a line before," said poll worker Cindy Roy.

Though the Providence Journal reported West Warwick got some ballots intended for Crepeau Court, Lanctot said they had no problems. She said they have plenty of ballots, and they were the correct ones for their district. 

Update: 9:45 a.m. Rep. Jon Brien (D-Dist.50), is at Our Lady of Martyrs working alongside poll volunteers for Democratic candidate Steve Casey, including Casey's dad, Joe, each working to greet a healthy turnout of voters.

"It's been steady. Very steady," said Moderator Kathy Ferrari, who reported 250 voters had come through as of 9:45 a.m.

"Thank God that's done," said Lorayne Lynch, who lamented a relentless stream of political ads. "I'm looking forward to car commercials," Lynch said.  

This year's local election boasts three contests — Dist. 50, Dist. 51 and Dist. 49:

Dist. 50 - This race pits two Democrats against each other - firefighter Stephen Casey and incumbent Rep. Jon Brien. Following an unsuccessful primary race against Casey, resulting in a 52- vote victory for the challenger, Brien launched a write-in campaign in late September. 

Dist. 51 - A more traditional contest between incumbent Democrat Bob Phillips and Republican challenger Chris Roberts.

Dist. 49 - On the ballot, incumbent Democrat Rep. Lisa Baldelli-Hunt is running against independent Michael E. Moniz. However, Moniz hasn't shown up for either of the two informational nights scheduled for local candidates. 

Stay with Patch all day as we update this article with news and information from the polls and live election results after 9 p.m.

Sen. Marc A. Cote, (D-Dist. 24) and Senator Roger A. Picard (D-Dist. 20) are running unopposed for reelection.

Voters will also decide seven state ballot questions and two city ballot questions:

City ballot issue: Question 8 — Ammendments to the Woonsocket Home Rule Charter.

"Shall the City of Woonsocket Home Rule Charter, Chapter XIV, be amended to provide for an appointed School Committee?"

City ballot issue: Question 9 — Recall provision

"Shall the City of Woonsocket Home Rule Charter, Chapter XVI, Article 2, be amended to add a recall provision for elected city officials?"

For more information on today's election, see our Voter's Guide.

 

LIVE 2012 ELECTION RESULTS (Unofficial)

Race D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 Total House Dist. 50



* * * *



Brien/write-in 225 279 336 363 Casey 591 611 740 718 House Dist. 49 * * * * Baldelli-Hunt Moniz House Dist. 51 * * * Roberts Phillips Senate Dist. 24 * * * * * * Cote Senate Dist. 20 * * * * * Picard

 

City Ballot Topic D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9  D10  D11 Total Q. #8 Appointed School Committee

5880 yes

4424 no

Q. #9 Recall provision 

7104 Yes

3099 no